Video searching using TV and user interfaces therefor

ABSTRACT

Using a TV, a viewer watching broadcast TV or Internet video content on a display can select a “Video Search” application indicating viewer desire to obtain information about a currently playing video program. The application is invoked to send a name of the currently playing video program to a server on the Internet and associated with a database to cause the server to execute a search only of the database associated with the Internet server and not to execute a search of the Internet. The server returns metadata related to the currently playing video program, which is presented on the display along with the currently playing video program.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present application relates generally to video searching using TVsand user interfaces (UI) related to the searching.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Audio video (AV) devices such as TVs are growing increasingly capable,enabling viewers to watch videos from a wide range of sources withconcomitant features. As understood herein, presenting additionalinformation to viewers in an easy, intuitive, and non-cluttered way isdesirable as more consumers demand increased access to supplementalinformation without wanting to operate computers to obtain theinformation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An audio video (AV) device includes a video display and a processoraccessing instructions on a computer readable medium to execute theinstructions to control the display to present a user interface (UI) onthe display. The UI includes at least a video tab and a cast tab.Responsive to selection of the video tab in a seed mode of “video”, theprocessor presents on the UI a description of a currently input AVprogram to the device. On the other hand, the processor, responsive toselection of the video tab in a seed mode of “cast”, presents on the UInames of plural AV programs other than the currently input AV programwith which a currently designated person associated with the currentlyinput AV program is also associated. In further contrast, responsive toselection of the cast tab in the seed mode of “video”, the processorpresents on the UI names of plural people associated with the currentlyinput AV program, whereas responsive to selection of the cast tab in aseed mode of “cast” the processor presents on the UI biographicinformation of the currently designated person.

The UI may further include a “related” tab selection of which causes theprocessor to present on the UI AV programs associated with the currentlyinput AV program including differently edited versions of the currentlyinput AV program. In example embodiments the UI can include a “textsearch” tab selectable to cause the processor to present on the displaythe UI along with a pop-window overlaid thereon, permitting a user toselect from a video category and a cast member category and no othercategories. The window can include a pane into which a user can enterone or more search terms. The processor executes a search on theselected category using the one or more search terms.

Still further, the UI can have a “history” tab selectable to present alist of recently viewed AV programs. If desired, the UI may include a“bookmark” tab selectable to present a list of recently viewed AVprograms. The processor receives selection of an AV program on the listof recently viewed AV programs when the bookmark tab is invoked and inresponse to the selection adds the AV program to a bookmark file.

In some implementations the UI presents a seed name and a “search”selector element. The processor, responsive to selection of the “search”selector element, presents on the display a search pop-up windowpresenting a list of applications and/or services. The processorreceives selection of an application and/or service from the list andresponsive thereto passes the seed name to the application and/orservice selected by the user to execute a non-Internet database searchusing the seed name. The processor executes the application and/orservice selected by the user to present results of the search on thedisplay. The example search pop-up window may also include a textualrepresentation of a video or cast member selectable to search forcontent related to the video or cast member. The search pop-up windowcan further present an icon and title of the video or cast member and anicon associated with a service and a name of a search item.

The UI may further display a seed name and a column of iconsrepresenting respective AV program sources including at least one TVsignal source and at least one Internet source. The icons representsources from which content related to the seed name is available. Anicon is selectable to cause the content related to the seed name to bereceived from the respective source,

In another aspect, a method includes receiving, from a viewer watchingbroadcast TV or Internet video content on a display, selection of a“Video Search” application indicating viewer desire to obtaininformation about a currently playing video program. Responsive toselection of the “Video Search” application, the “Video Search”application is invoked and executed to send a name of the currentlyplaying video program to a server on the Internet and associated with adatabase. This causes the server to execute a search only of thedatabase associated with the Internet server and not to execute a searchof the Internet. The method includes receiving from the server metadatarelated to the currently playing video program, with the metadataincluding information about the currently playing video program and thecast thereof. Information from the metadata is presented on the videodisplay along with the currently playing video program.

In another aspect, an audio video (AV) device includes a video displaypresenting a currently input AV program and a processor accessinginstructions on a computer readable medium to execute the instructionsto control the display to present a user interface (UI) on the display.The UI presents a seed name and a “search” selector element. Theprocessor, responsive to selection of the “search” selector element,presents on the display a search pop-up window presenting a list ofapplications and/or services. The processor receives selection of anapplication and/or service from the list and responsive thereto passesthe seed name to the application and/or service selected by the user toexecute a non-Internet database search using the seed name. Theprocessor executes the application and/or service selected by the userto present results of the search on the display.

The details of the present invention, both as to its structure andoperation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and inwhich:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system in accordance withpresent principles;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing example overall logic in accordance withpresent principles;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing example “search apps” logic;

FIG. 4 is a screen shot of a user interface (UI) illustrating variousportions and selector elements;

FIG. 5 is a screen shot of a search UI;

FIG. 6 is a screen shot of a UI that is presented responsive toselection of the video tab and the seed is “video”;

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of a UI that is presented responsive toselection of the video tab and the seed is “cast”;

FIG. 8 is a screen shot of a UI that is presented responsive toselection of the cast tab and the seed is “video”;

FIG. 9 is a screen shot of a UI that is presented responsive toselection of the cast tab and the seed is “cast”;

FIG. 10 is a screen shot of a UI that is presented responsive toselection of the “related” tab (seed must be “video”);

FIG. 11 is a screen shot of a text search pop-up window that ispresented when the text search tab is selected;

FIG. 12 is a screen shot of a UI that presents results of the searchentered from the UI of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a screen shot of a UI that is presented responsive toselection of the seed history tab (seed can be “video” or “cast”); and

FIG. 14 is a screen shot of a UI that is presented responsive toselection of the bookmark tab.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring initially to FIG. 1, an audio video (AV) display device 12such as a TV includes a housing 14 bearing a digital processor 16. Theprocessor 16 can control a visual display 18 and an audible display 20such as one or more speakers. The visual display may be a touch screendisplay or high definition TV display or other appropriate videodisplay.

To undertake present principles, the processor 16 may access one or morecomputer readable storage media 22 such as but not limited to RAM-basedstorage (e.g., a chip implementing dynamic random access memory (DRAM))and/or flash memory and/or disk-based storage. Software codeimplementing present logic executable by the AV device 12 may be storedon one of the memories to undertake present principles.

If desired, in addition to the touch screen the processor 16 can receiveuser input signals from various input devices, including a keypad, aremote control device 26, a point and click device such as a mouse, etc.A TV tuner 28 may be provided in some implementations particularly whenthe CE device is embodied by a TV to receive TV signals from a sourcesuch as a set-top box, satellite receiver, cable head end, terrestrialTV signal antenna, etc. Signals from the tuner 28 are sent to theprocessor 16 for presentation on the display 18 and speakers 20.

As shown in FIG. 1, a network interface 30 such as a wired or wirelessmodem or wireless telephony transceiver communicates with the processor16 to provide connectivity to one or more Internet servers, including amanagement server 32 with respective processors 32 a and respectivecomputer readable storage media 32 b. The management server 32 mayprovide the AV device 12 with selective access to AV content from one ormore asset servers 34. One or more AV input ports 36 can also beprovided to receive television programming from respective sourcesincluding a disk player, a set top box, a cable head end, a satellite, aterrestrial broadcast antenna.

FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate logic that the processor 16 accessing themedium 22 may execute. Commencing at block 38 a video search command isreceived from a viewer operating the below-described user interface (UI)shown in FIG. 4. A video search algorithm is entered at block 40 topresent on the display 18 a search UI at block 42. An example search UIis described further below in reference to FIG. 5.

Proceeding to block 44, user selections are received from the search UI.At block 46, responsive to the user selections a database (not Internet)search is conducted for matching content, with results being presentedon display 18 at block 48.

FIG. 3 shows more specific search logic. Commencing at block 50, theprocessor receives from a viewer operating the UI of FIG. 4, a window(labeled “Content Area”) of which presents broadcast TV or Internetvideo content, a selection of a “Video Search” application indicatingviewer desire to obtain information about a currently playing videoprogram. The video search application allows users to search forinformation about videos and cast members and can be entered bymanipulating, e.g., the RC 26 to select a “search apps” selector element51 on the UI of FIG. 4.

Responsive to selection of the “Video Search” application, at block 52the pop-up UI of FIG. 5 is overlaid onto the UI of FIG. 4, although insome embodiments the UI of FIG. 5 can completely replace the UI of FIG.4. In any case, a user selection of a “seed” such as a video title orcast member name is received at block 54 and passed to a selectedapplication at block 56. The application searches a predetermineddatabase at block 58 for matching content and returns the content forpresentation on the display 18 at block 60.

In the UI shown in FIG. 5, a header may be presented as shown, and the“seed” entered into block #1. The seed may be entered by typing in thename of a title or person and may be automatically correlated to the“video” genus by searching a database of video names and responsive to amatch being found, inferring that the viewer has entered a “seed” whichis a video title. Similarly, the seed may be automatically correlated tothe “cast” genus by searching a database of person names and responsiveto a match being found, inferring that the viewer has entered a “seed”which is a cast member name. Or, the viewer may directly enter “video”or “cast” or may toggle between “video” and “cast” using the RC 26.

Block #2 in FIG. 5 may be a video icon when “video” is the seed andblock #3 may be the entered video title. Likewise, when “cast” is theseed block #3 may be an icon (e.g., photo) of the selected cast memberand block #4 may be the cast title, either personal name, charactername, etc. Rows 4 and 5 may be reserved and row #6A and 6B may be anicon and item name, respectively, associated with a selectedapplication, e.g., an Internet TV application or a music searchapplication. Line #7 may be a help text field.

FIGS. 6-14 illustrate various configurations that may be assumed by theUI shown in FIG. 4, hereinafter designated UI 70. In the example shown,the UI 70 includes a left-most column of tabs, in order from top tobottom a video tab 72 (which is depicted as being selected in FIGS. 6and 7), a cast tab 74 (selected in FIGS. 8 and 9), a related tab 76(selected in FIG. 10), a text search tab 78 (selected in FIG. 12), ahistory tab 80 (selected in FIG. 13), and a bookmarks tab 82 (selectedin FIG. 14). As discussed further below, the UI 70 can be used toprovide links that allow users to navigate to videos and cast membersrelated to content in the main information/video area discussed furtherbelow. This creates an “exploratory” environment, enabling users to jumpfrom one group of information to another. The users can accessinformation about the currently playing video. Or the users can access akeyboard in order to enter and then search for any video topic or musictrack played on the AV device 12.

As shown in FIG. 6, moving to the right on the display 18 a maininformation/video area 84, labeled “content area” in FIG. 4, occupiesthe majority of the display area. Description below follows as to whatis presented in the main information area 84.

To the right of the main information area 84, in some exampleimplementations a column of selector elements or icons may be presentedwhich a viewer can select respective AV program sources including atleast one TV signal source (associated with an icon 86) and at least oneInternet source (Internet sources are associated with website icons 88,90).

The icons represent sources from which content related to the seed nameis available. An icon is selectable to cause the content related to theseed name to be received from the respective source.

FIG. 6 shows that responsive to selection of the video tab 72 in theabove-described seed mode of “video”, the processor 16 presents in themain information area 84 of the UI 70 a description 92 of a currentlyinput AV program to the device 12, in the example shown, “movie A”. Thedescription, like the other supplemental information described hereinresponsive to the selection of various tabs, may be downloaded from themanagement server 32 accessing various asset servers 34. The descriptioncan include the year of release of the program, its genre, run time, andlanguage as shown in FIG. 6. Also, the description can include, asshown, a brief summary of the movie connections, production information,and a plot summary. A “more” selector element 94 can be selected toscroll the screen up for additional information on the current AVprogram.

On the other hand, responsive to selection of the video tab 72 in theseed mode of “cast”, as shown in FIG. 7 titles 96 are presented of AVprograms other than the currently input AV program 98, with the titles96 also starring or otherwise associated with a currently designatedperson associated with the currently input AV program 94. Along witheach title 96, the actor's character name in the underlying AV programcan be presented as shown along with a release year for that program andif desired, to the left of the title, a photo, e.g., of the actor in thecharacter role.

In further contrast, FIG. 8 shows that responsive to selection of thecast tab 74 while in the seed mode of “video”, the UI names of peopleassociated with the currently input AV program and, if desired, theirphotos, whereas responsive to selection of the cast tab 74 in a seedmode of “cast” (FIG. 9) the processor presents on the UI biographicinformation of the currently designated person including, e.g., theperson's name, date and place of birth, and a brief biography.

FIG. 10 shows that selection of the related tab 76 causes the processor16 to present on the UI AV programs that are associated with thecurrently input AV program including differently edited versions of thecurrently input AV program, e.g., “premier”, “High definition”,“trailer”, etc. On the other hand, when the text search tab 78 isselected a pop-window 100 may be overlaid on the main UT 70. The pop upwindow 100 as shown permits a user to select from a video category 102and a cast member category 104, and in example embodiments no othercategories are selectable. The window 100 can include a pane 106 intowhich a user can enter one or more search terms. The processor executesa search on the selected category using the one or more search terms andthen precipitate a search of, e.g., the management server 32 and assetservers 34 only by selecting “search”. FIG. 12 shows that when thesearch is complete the window 100 is removed and the UI 70 presents alist of video programs that confirm to the query input into the window100, including accompanying photos if desired and release year.

Still further, selection of the “history” tab 80 as shown in FIG. 13causes the UI 70 to present a list of recently viewed AV programs. FIG.14 illustrates that selection of the “bookmark” tab 82 causes the UI 70to present a list of recently viewed AV programs. The processor 16 canreceive selection of an AV program on the list of recently viewed AVprograms when the bookmark tab is invoked and in response to theselection add the AV program to a bookmark file.

Additional details related to the principles described above follow.

TABLE 1 Video Search Areas Content Tabs: Video, Feature Tabs: TextSearch, Area Cast, Related History, Bookmarks Header Application headerGraphic Seed image Image for the feature Tab Mechanism to select thedesired tab. Users scroll Navigation up and down to navigate between thetabs. Seed Header Content type icon & Text Search: Content type Seed ofsearch icon & Search string (or blank if no seed) History & Bookmarks:Title of tab Content Information about the seed, Search: Search ResultsArea Add to Bookmarks button*, History: History of Search Apps button*selected seeds *Details View only Bookmarks: List of user-saved seeds.Search Apps Initiate Search Apps Not displayed button feature - hiddenin list view Add to Add current seed to Not displayed BookmarksBookmarks - hidden in button list view Links Links related to contentarea. Not displayed Footer Application footer *This is the textdisplayed in the footer when the focus is on a tab. When the focus is ona text screen (pop-up window), the text string for <RETURN> is “Back.”Format of the Content AreaThe Content area can present data in two formats: details view and listview.

-   -   Details view: one result with many details about the result.        Often includes paragraphs of description. For an example, refer        to the Video tab when the seed=video.    -   List view: many results with few details about each result. For        an example, refer to the Video tab when the seed=cast        If there is no seed, then the Content tabs may be grayed out, in        which case the UI 70 never gives them focus. The text in the        seed header area depends upon the tab. For Video, Cast, or        Related Tabs, the content type icon and seed may be displayed,        but if there is no seed, users in some embodiments cannot access        these tabs, For the text search tab content type icon and search        string are displayed and if the user has not yet performed a        search, then the header may display a generic text search icon        and the string “text search.”

When the user selects the add to bookmarks button, the UI adds thecurrent seed as a bookmark. This button is displayed in the content areaof the Content tabs, when the tabs are in description view. The buttonis hidden when the tab is in list view.

As described above, the “Available On” links are links that are relatedto the seed. They are populated by the server-side database (managementserver 32). If there is no data from the database, then the UI displaysthe message, “Nothing available.” When a user scrolls to these links,the right pane expands to display text about each item. This content canbe refreshed every time the user selects a new seed. The text next toeach link is specific to Video Search. Each item can support up to threelines of text. The text is as follows:

-   -   Line 1: Name of Service    -   Line 2: Name of Video/Cast Member    -   Line 3: Cost of Service

While the particular VIDEO SEARCHING USING TV AND USER INTERFACESTHEREFOR is herein shown and described in detail, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter which is encompassed by the present invention islimited only by the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. Audio video (AV) device comprising: at least onenon-transitory computer readable medium with instructions executable byat least one processor to configure the processor for: controlling adisplay to present a user interface (UI) on the display, the UIincluding at least a first tab and a second tab; responsive to selectionof the first tab in a first mode, presenting on the UI a description ofa currently input AV program to the device; responsive to selection ofthe first tab in a second mode, presenting on the UI names of plural AVprograms other than the currently input AV program with which acurrently designated person associated with the currently input AVprogram is also associated; responsive to selection of the second tab inthe first mode, presenting on the UI names of plural people associatedwith the currently input AV program; and responsive to selection of thesecond tab in the second mode, presenting on the UI biographicinformation of the currently designated person.
 2. The AV device ofclaim 1, the UI further comprising a third tab when presented by theprocessor, wherein the instructions when executed by the processorconfigure the processor for, responsive to selection of the third tab,presenting on the UI AV programs associated with the currently input AVprogram including differently edited versions of the currently input AVprogram.
 3. The AV device of claim 1, the further comprising a fourthtab when presented by the processor, wherein the instructions whenexecuted by the processor configure the processor for, responsive toselection of the fourth tab, presenting on the display the UI along witha pop-window overlaid thereon and permitting a user to select from avideo category and a cast member category and no other categories, thewindow including a pane into which a user can enter one or more searchterms, the processor configured for executing a search on the selectedcategory using the one or more search terms.
 4. The AV device of claim1, the UI farther comprising a fifth tab when presented by theprocessor, wherein the instructions when executed by the processorconfigure the processor for, responsive to selection of the fifth tab,presenting a list of recently viewed AV programs.
 5. The AV device ofclaim 1, the UI further comprising a sixth tab when presented by theprocessor, wherein the instructions when executed by the processorconfigure the processor for, responsive to selection of the sixth tab,presenting a list of recently viewed AV programs, wherein theinstructions when executed by the processor configure the processor forreceiving selection of an AV program on the list of recently viewed AVprograms when the sixth tab is invoked and in response to the selectionadding the AV program to a bookmark file.
 6. The AV device of claim 1,wherein the UI when presented by the processor presents a mode name anda. seventh selector element, wherein the instructions when executed bythe processor configure the processor for, responsive to selection ofthe seventh selector element, presenting on the display it search pop-upwindow presenting a list of applications and/or services, the processorwhen accessing the instructions being configured for receiving selectionof an application and/or service from the list and responsive theretopassing the mode name to the application and/or service selected by auser to execute a non-Internet database search using the seed name, theprocessor configured for executing the application and/or serviceselected by the user presenting results of the search on the display. 7.The AV device of claim 6, wherein the search pop-up window includes atextual representation of a video or cast member selectable to searchfor content related to the video or cast member, the search pop-upwindow further presenting an icon and title of the video or cast member,the search pop-up window further presenting an icon associated with aservice and a name of a search item.
 8. The AV device of claim 1,wherein the UI further includes when presented by the processor a modename and a column of icons representing respective AV program sourcesincluding at least one TV signal source and at least one Internetsource, the icons representing sources from which content related to themode name is available, an icon being selectable to cause the contentrelated to the mode name to be received from the respective source. 9.The AV device of claim 1, wherein the first mode is established based onuser input.
 10. Method comprising: receiving, from a viewer watchingcontent on a display, selection indicating viewer desire to obtaininformation about a currently playing content, the selection being madeusing a user interface (UI) including at least a first tab and a secondtab; responsive to selection of the first tab in a first mode,presenting a description of the currently playing content; responsive toselection of the first tab in a second mode, presenting names of pluralAV programs other than the currently playing content with which acurrently designated person associated with the currently playingcontent is also associated; responsive to selection of the second tab inthe first mode, presenting names of plural people associated with thecurrently playing content; and responsive to selection of the second tabin the second mode, presenting biographic information of a currentlydesignated person.
 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:receiving from the viewer a search command to search for content relatedto a video program not being presented on the display; responsive to thesearch command, presenting on the display a search tab; receiving userinput to the search tab; and responsive to the user input to the searchtab, sending the user input to the search tab to an Internet server forexecuting a database search for content related to the user input to thesearch tab.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein user input is receivedfrom a TV remote control or a keyboard and not from a computer.